S: (n) Roman Republic (the ancient Roman state from 509 BC until Augustus assumed power in 27 BC; was governed by an elected Senate but dissatisfaction with the Senate led to civil wars that culminated in a brief dictatorship by Julius Caesar)

S: (n) Roman Empire (an empire established by Augustus in 27 BC and divided in AD 395 into the Western Roman Empire and the eastern or Byzantine Empire; at its peak lands in Europe and Africa and Asia were ruled by ancient Rome)

S: (n) Italy, Italian Republic, Italia (a republic in southern Europe on the Italian Peninsula; was the core of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire between the 4th century BC and the 5th century AD)

S: (n) Austria-Hungary (a geographical area in central and eastern Europe; broken into separate countries at the end of World War I)

S: (n) Austria, Republic of Austria, Oesterreich (a mountainous republic in central Europe; under the Habsburgs (1278-1918) Austria maintained control of the Holy Roman Empire and was a leader in European politics until the 19th century)

S: (n) Flanders (a medieval country in northern Europe that included regions now parts of northern France and Belgium and southwestern Netherlands)

S: (n) Scotland (one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; located on the northern part of the island of Great Britain; famous for bagpipes and plaids and kilts)

S: (n) Tartary, Tatary (the vast geographical region of Europe and Asia that was controlled by the Mongols in the 13th and 14th centuries) "under Genghis Khan Tartary extended as far east as the Pacific Ocean"

S: (n) San Marino, Republic of San Marino (the smallest republic in the world; the oldest independent country in Europe (achieved independence in 301); located in the Apennines and completely surrounded by Italy)

S: (n) Gibraltar, Rock of Gibraltar, Calpe (location of a colony of the United Kingdom on a limestone promontory at the southern tip of Spain; strategically important because it can control the entrance of ships into the Mediterranean; one of the Pillars of Hercules)

S: (n) Ottoman Empire, Turkish Empire (a Turkish sultanate of southwestern Asia and northeastern Africa and southeastern Europe; created by the Ottoman Turks in the 13th century and lasted until the end of World War I; although initially small it expanded until it superseded the Byzantine Empire)

S: (n) Low Countries (the lowland region of western Europe on the North Sea: Belgium and Luxembourg and the Netherlands)